Monday, June 16, 2014

Attorney Matt Murray Obtains Outstanding Outcomes In Three Cases:

1.  OWI - Third Offense reduced to Negligent Operation of Motor Vehicle


 RS was a commercial truck driver and charged with a third offense OWI.  He was therefore facing a lifetime disqualification of his commercial driver's license.  In the days before the jury trial, after several pretrial hearings attacking the evidence, the prosecutor finally agreed to amend the charge to a Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle, which carried no license revocation and saved RS' career.

2.  OWI - First Offense reduced to Inattentive Driving


 Another commercial driver, NK, was charged with OWI- First Offense after being pulled over for allegedly squealing his tires.  NK adamantly stated that he never squealed his tires.  Attorney Murray obtained a copy of the squad video and pointed out that the smoke observed actually came from the exhaust and not the tires. The charge was amended to an Inattentive Driving citation.  Another license saved.

3.  OWI - Third Offense with .328 Blood and accident reduced to First Offense with no jail


 TG was in big trouble.  It was his third offense, his blood test came back at .328, he had rear ended another car, and was also charged with refusing the blood test.  The officer also tagged on an Inattentive Driving ticket.  He was facing substantial jail time and was rightfully scared.  Attorney Murray reopened TG's second offense and had it dismissed because the municipal court that entered the judgment did not have jurisdiction.  The third offense was then dropped to a first offense and TG served no jail at all.  The prosecutor was not pleased and wanted TG to then plead to both the Refusal charge and the OWI - First Offense.  Attorney Murray then pushed the case until the Refusal and Inattentive Driving charges were also dismissed.  Another very happy client.

Friday, June 13, 2014

June 11, 2014: OWI-1st/PAC-1st (with .164 Blood Test Result) Reduced to Speeding Ticket

Our client, TK, came to us with a case that had some very difficult facts. Observed by an officer to be speeding at 2:30 in the morning, TK initially did not pull over in response to the officer's lights. According to the officer, TK traveled more than a mile before he pulled over. This resulted in TK being charged criminally for Failing to Stop for an Officer. What's more, TK allegedly failed the field sobriety tests and had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit. Despite the damning allegations, TK had to do whatever he could to keep a drunk driving conviction off his record. His job (and career) depended on it. TK sought advice from his civil attorney in finding the best drunk driving attorney in Wisconsin. The attorney provided only one name: Dennis Melowski.

When Dennis started digging into the case, he began to realize that the case against TK was not quite as strong as it initially seemed. The officer's squad video contradicted some of his claims about TK's performance on the field sobriety tests and it even called into question whether TK would have been able to see the officer's squad lights from the rear when he "failed to stop." Dennis filed several legal challenges on TK's behalf and a motion hearing was ultimately held in front of the judge. At this hearing, Dennis devastated the officer on cross-examination and was able to severely weaken the State's case. At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge ordered both sides to brief the issue of whether the motions should be granted based on how the officer testified. Dennis filed his brief and, within a week of doing so, got a call from the prosecutor offering a fantastic deal. The prosecutor agreed to drop the drunk driving charges in exchange for TK pleading no contest to a simple speeding ticket. In addition, the criminal charge of Failure to Stop for an Officer was amended to Obstructing an Officer, which will not appear on TK's driver record. Aside from paying some fines, TK suffered no consequences from this incident. More importantly, he is not a convicted drunk driver. He couldn't be happier.